Christmas Count Down!! 12/22/14

Here is another idea to go with out theme...random acts of kindness....

At some point in time, we've all had to call the handyman to help us out. The kitchen sink backs up, or a leaky faucet gets worse; a window needs to be reinforced or the furnace needs replacing. The next time someone is at your house fixing something, offer them a drink or a snack. Let them know you appreciate the work they are doing for you.

Benefits:

Offering water or lemonade to the person fixing your house, especially on a hot day, will help develop a mutual respect and potentially even a friendship down the road.

Step It Up:

If you know you have someone coming to your house to fix something, bake some cookies and have them ready when the handyman comes. Offer cookies while they are there, but also be sure to give them some to take with them when they leave. If they work for a big company, call their boss and let the boss know how great of a job they did.

Keep It Simple:

Even if you don't have anything special on hand, always be sure to offer a glass of water. If you are making a sandwich, offer to make them one too. If you aren't home while they are working on your house, leave a note next too an empty glass suggesting they help themselves to some water while they are there. Also be sure to thank them!

From the Kitchen:

Crescent Roll Cheesecake

2 packages crescent rolls

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

Unroll one package of crescent rolls and line the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Flatten out well. Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Spread this mix over the crescent rolls. Unroll the other can of crescent rolls and place on top of the cream cheese mix. Pour the melted butter over the top and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

From the Spirit:

By: DIETER F. UCHTDORF

"Seeing Christmas through New Eyes," 2010 First Presidency Christmas Devotional,

(December 5, 2010)

....Look steadfastly for His coming. The early disciples of Jesus Christ yearned for the time when He would come again. For them, mortality was a time of preparation and growth, of sifting and refining, a time for trimming their lamps and preparing for the return of their beloved Savior.

Brothers and sisters, 2,000 years later we also stand as His disciples. We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The term latter-day is significant. We live and serve in a time prior to the Lord’s triumphant return. Our work is to prepare ourselves and the world for the coming of the Messiah in glory!

Not long after His mortal ministry, Christ said to the Apostle John, “Surely I come quickly.” And John answered, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”5

We live in the 11th hour before the coming of the day of our Lord. Let us therefore look forward to that blessed day when the King of kings descends with a shout,6 takes away death, dries up tears, and ushers in a new era of peace, joy, and learning.

While theChristmas season is typically a time for looking back and celebrating the birth of our Lord, it seems to me that it should also be a time of looking to the future. Let us look forward. Let us prepare for that blessed day when He will come again. Let us be as wise as those ancients who watched for His coming. As His disciples, let us have in our hearts and minds the words of John: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

From the Schmidt's:

Can you believe it, this week we will celebrate Christmas! I can hardly stand it, I am so excited!

Sure, we may not have as many presents under the tree this year, but who cares! We have so many things to be excited about. We have each other and that is a good thing!

Kevin has been 7 days without his pain medication. Remember I mentioned that the pharmacy had to order it. The doctor cannot prescribe it until Kevin is out of it, an the pharmacy cannot order it until they have the prescription...and they only get their orders once a week. SOOO, this has been a LONG week for Kevin. He has fallen several times and is just gritting his teeth in the hopes that Walgreens will come through today with his prescription right away. Kevin and I have decided to bring this matter to the attention of our Congressman, and/or some local or national news affiliate. Enough of this all ready! We are tired of this. It's time everyone know what Walgreen's (and probably other pharmacies too) does to their customers. So people like Kevin suffer in excruciating pain until they get around to ordering his medications. And even after they order it, they have no idea if they really will get it in stock. OR at least that is what the pharmacy personnel tell him. It is so sad! Needless to say, we have stayed close to the house while he is in such pain. It is not fun watching him suffer like this. Bed and the bathroom is the only thing he does right now. Yikes!

When I left the house everyone was still sleeping because no one needed to be anywhere today. Kevin was the only one up and that's because he cannot sleep. Poor guy! We have a lot to still do before Wednesday night and Thursday morning. We didn't get as much done as we would have liked to this weekend. We work better under pressure in these situations. So tonight and tomorrow will be fun. Ha Ha!

Here is hoping you all are much more organized and ready for this Christmas holiday than I am. Take care and we will talk to you soon!

A Christmas Game:

Human Scrabble Game

You will need to prepare these things in advance of the game.

For each team of six players (you need a minimum of two teams), you will need to make letters for the players to wear around their neck. You can cut cardstock in half and staple a 30 inch piece of yarn, tying a knot at the end so it doesn't slip through the staple, to the paper.

Each piece of cardstock will have one letter written on it. The letters that you will write are N, A, R, E,T,O,L,D,S,R,E,M. You will need one set of these letters for each team. Each team will consist of six players. Each player will have two of the letters around their neck. One letter will be hung on their chest. The other letter will hang on their back.

The letter must be worn as follows: Player 1 wears N and A. Player 2 wears R and E. Player 3 wears T and O. Player 4 wears L and D. Player 5 wears S and R. Player 6 wears E and M. It must be these combinations for the game to work.

Each team then stands in a line, side by side. (The order they stand in does not matter to begin with.)

There are to be two chair's placed in front of each group. The "Emcee" then reads aloud a word fron the list below. Example: The Emcee reads aloud the word SEAT. The players on both teams then have to line themselves up in the order of the letters to spell the word SEAT. Note, some players may have the S on their back. The next player may have an E on their front. So, players will line themselves up facing forward or backward as needed in the order of the letters of that particular word. All words are 4 letter words, so two players will have to sit down in the chairs if their letters are not included in that particular word. Remember that some letters are duplicated on the cards, so just because you have an R, you may need your other letter and someone else may have to use their R. That's where it gets tricky. The first team that is standing so that the word can be read, left to right, and two extra players are seated in the chairs, they call out "done!" That team gets the point. The game goes until one or the other team gets the specified points. (20 points works well.) It is wise to have an extra person watching closely to see which team is first because it's really close a lot of the time. It won't take long for the teams to figure out some strategies to their spelling quicker and it's fun to watch everyone scramble! Enjoy!